Flat knitting machine



K. R. LIEBERKNECHT FLAT KNITTING MACHINE March 6, 1934.

Filed Oct 15, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet l NVENTOR March 6, 1934.

K. R. LIEBERKNECHT 1,950,185

FLAT KNITTING MACHINE Filxed Oct. 15, 1932' 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ..:4 5 g mgmm or (W W ATTORNEXS" March 1934- K. R. LIEBERKNECHT 1,950,185

FLAT KNITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 15, 1932 T 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR BY 06 C T/p47 f O l A ORNEYS March 6, 1934'. K, R LIEBERKNECHT 1,950,185

FLAT KNITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 15, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR BY 10 1 6 r W ATTQRNEYJ- Patented Mar. 6, 1934 UNITED STATES FLAT KNITTING MACHINE Karl Richard Lieberknecht, Oberlungwitz, Germany, assignor to Kalio Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 15, 1932, Serial No. 637,944

- i Claims (01. 66-82) My invention relates specifically mechanism whereby the pressing ofi of theloops from the needles is eifected and controlled-and is de signed to make possible the automatic exclusion,v

of individual needles or groups of needles from the pressing operation or, vice versa, the automatic selection of the individual needles or groups of needles which are to be subjected to the pressing operation.

In the knitting of fabric of uniform structure such, for example, as the usual hosiery fabric, upon standard fiat knitting machines, all of the needles of the machine are pressed when the loops already formed are to be cast off. At that time the 'needle bar and all of the needles are swung rearwardly until their beards are closed by pressure against the press edge, whereupon further downward travel of the needles will free them from the loops which theretofore have been hanging on the needle shanks; I

Standard fiat knitting machines are designed for such simultaneous pressing of all of the needles. However, in the manufacture of fabrics having fancy designs, it is sometimes necessary to retain loops upon certain needles when the others are pressed off, and this the standard machine is unable to do.

The major object of my invention is to provide an attachment or addition to a standard fiat knitting machine by means of which any individual needle, or as manyseparate needles as desired, may be excluded from any pressing operation or from any number of consecutive pressing operations, that is to say, to provide for complete selectivity of the needles subject to the pressing operation at any time, to make this selection wholly automatic and to accomplish these things without altering or affecting in. any way the standard features or mode of operation of the machine or impairing its immediate utility for all standard purposes.

The nature of my invention will be made clear by the following specification and drawings, of which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic transverse view of a part of the mechanism of a standard flat knitting machine to which my invention has been applied;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view in perspective of the usual needle operating mechanism;

Fig.3 is a diagrammatic front elevation of my invention showing in addition its relation to other adjacent standard parts;

Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views of certain details of my invention;

Fig. 6 consists of fragmentary diagrammatic front and side elevations of the press preventing points; and

Figs. '7 and 8 are other diagrammatic views of parts of the operative mechanisms.

mechanism of the knitting machine.

As'will be seen best from Figure 1, I associate my. 3 mechanism with the standard narrowing known to those skilled in the art, this includes narrowing levers, one of which is shown at 15, attached at one end to a rockable narrowing shaft 14 and at the other end to a small shaft 16. To the latter is also pivotallyconnected one end of a connecting rod 24, the other end of which is pivoted upon an arm 23. Arm 23 is rockably mounted on a suitable shaft and carries a cam roller 21 which, by engagement with the narrowing cam 22 fixed on the main cam shaft 22 imparts the essential reciprocatory movements to the parts described during the narrowing operation. A second cam26 having a perfectly round periphery is positioned along the side of cam 22 on the same cam shaft. Normally roller 21 engages with this cam with the exception of during the narrowing operation when it is engaged with cam 22 through the longitudinal shifting of the cam shaft by means of the usual shogging cam and associated control mechanism. The parts thus far described constitute standard parts of the narrowing mechanism of a standard flat knitting machine.

The standard needle pressing mechanism is also diagrammatically disclosed in Fig. 2. As is well known to those skilled in the art, it consists of a lever '70 keyed to needle bar shaft 71 and also attached to the needle bar 71 by means of which vertical motionis imparted to the needle bar, and a series of levers 72, 73 and '74,-cam '75 and cam roller 76, by means of which the needle bar is rocked for the purpose of regulating the size of the loops and accomplishing the pressing of the needles. The character and mode of operation of this system of cams and levers are standard in all respects and require no. further description.

As already stated in general terms, by my invention I. remove or isolate'any needle or any number of needles from the pressing operation without in any way interfering with the normal operation ofthe machine, including the press, at any time when it is desired to retain certain loops on the needles instead of casting them ofi as, for example, in the knitting of designs inthe fabric.

To this end I extend or attach extensions 16" to narrowing levers 15 to form brackets and bearings for the support of a rotatable pattern drum shaft 1. 'Upon this shaft a cylindrical pattern drum 10 is fixed. As is well known, such a pattern drum is so constructed that buttons or studs 11 may be inserted in any desired part of its surface to form cams for the operation of other parts.

Attached to each extension or bracket 16 is an additional arm or bracket 3, at the bottom end of which is positioned an auxiliary press prevent- As is well ing bar 5. Auxiliary bar 51 is provided with a series of downwardly projecting press preventing points 6 corresponding in number to the needles 7 on the regular needle bar '71 and each positioned in exactly the same vertical plane transverse the machine as the corresponding needle and slightly behind it.

The lower ends of brackets 3 also form the supports for a shaft 5 upon which are rockably mounted a series of levers or jacks 12, one for each of thepoints 6 and each lying and moving in the same vertical plane as its corresponding point and needle.

Each jack 12 consists of two arms 12 and 13. The upper end of arm 12 rests against the surface of pattern drum 10. The lower end of arm 13 rests against the back of a point 6. Consequently, when pattern drum 10 is rotated any jack whose arm 12 lies in the path of a button 11 will be rocked when the button passes under the end of the arm. Arm 13 of the jack will be correspondingly rocked in the opposite direction and, since this arm rests against a point 6, this point will be sprung forward as shown in Fig. 5. Substantially simultaneously the auxiliary press bar 5 which, as will be seen from Fig. 3, is normally positioned so that the: ends of points 6 are just above and a little to the rear of needles '7, is lowered sufficiently by the narrowing mechanism, as will be described, to bring the ends of points 6 slightly below the tips of needle '7.

The result is that those points which are sprung forward by the operation of .iacks 12 under the control of pattern drum 10 will engage with the tips of the corresponding needles and will prevent them from swinging back against the press edge. As the needles continue to descend the narrowing mechanism also is caused to descend at the same time and rate, with the result that these points 6 will be maintained in contact with the corresponding needles as above described, until the pressing operation has been completed and the needle beards will, consequently. remain open and the loops on these needles will not be cast off. The manipulation of points 6 just described begins, of course, just an instant before the standard press mechanism operates.

To insure that the points 6 engage and hold their needles durin the press operation, the ends thereof should preferably be beveled and grooved as shown at 25 in Fig. 6 in a manner not-unlike the grooving of the narrowing points, but conforming, of course, to the shape and dimensions of the needle tips with which they engage.

Since the above device is operated throu h the standard narrowing mechanism but at different times in the knitting than those at which narrowing occurs and without affecting the performance of the narrowing operation, obviously additional operating means is required for causing the narrowing mechanism to dip for this special purpose. This I show in the form of a third cam 20 positioned on the main cam shaft adjacent the other cams 22 and 26, and means for longitudinally shifting narrowing cam roller 21 so that it may engage with cam 20 at the desired time. The contour of cam 20 is such that, when in use, it will cause a dipping of the narrowing mechanism sufficient to bring and maintain the ends of point 6 below the tips of needle 7, as already described, in order that the,

points selected by the pattern drum may be engaged with the corresponding needles and pressing oif of the loops thereon prevented. This clipping however, is less than that required to engage narrowing points 19 with the needles.

During the usual narrowing operation, the points 6 being normally positioned somewhat to the rear of narrowing points 19 and needles 7, as already explained, and not being under the influence of buttons 11 on pattern drum 10 have no effect whatsoever, but remain inoperative and .out of the way, although, of course, they dip to the same extent as the narrowing points since they are supported upon the narrowing mechanism.

The shifting of roller 21 to cause it to engage cam 20 at the proper time may be effected by a timing device, such as the following: A chain sprocket 2'7 is mounted to rotate upon a stub shaft 28 attached to a suitable positioned fixed bracket 29 and carries a ratchet wheel 30. A pattern chain 31 carrying buttons 32 passes around sprocket 27 and an idler pulley 33 in the usual way, and is operated intermittently by means of cam 34 upon the main cam shaft through cam roller 35 mounted on the end of bell crank 36, the other end of which operates a pawl lever 3'7, upon which pawl 38 is pivotally mounted so as to engage and turn ratchet 30.

A bell crank 39 is also fulcrumed on bracket 29 in such a position that its horizontal arm 40 lies in the path of button 32, so that when it is lifted by a button its vertical arm 41 will swing to the right. end to vertical arm 41 and also carries shifting fork 43 which engages cam roller 21. This roller is rotatably and slidably mounted upon a stub shaft fixed in arm 23 which, as stated, is swingably mounted on a shaft 23'. Consequently, when shift lever 42 is shifted to the right by the swinging of bell crank arm 41, roller 21 will be correspondingly shifted from cam 26 to cam 20 and will be returned to its original position in engagement with cam 26 by the counter-shifting of these parts by action of tension spring 42 on rod 42 when the button passes from under the arm 40. One end of spring 12 is fastened to set collar on rod 42. The other end of said spring is fastened to the machine frame. The timing of this shift is determined by the position of the buttons 32 on pattern chain 31 in the manner Well known to'those skilled in the art.

The mechanism by which pattern drum 10 is rotated and its rotation controlled so that jacks 12 are operated only at the desired times and independently of the clipping of the narrowing mechanism may be of various types. That which I have selected for purposes of illustration consists of a ratchet 47 keyed to drum shaft 1 and an operating pawl 48 pivoted upon an arm 49, which is swingably mounted upon shaft 1 so that when the pawl is swung forward it will engage with sprocket 47 to rotate it and, consequently, 1 pattern drum 10. Pawl 48 is operated from the.

main cam shaft as follows:

A rod 50 connects the pawl 48 with'an arm 51 of a bell crank 52 freely mounted on narrowing shaft 14. The other armz53 of bell crank 52 is connected by a link 54 to a cross-head block 56 sliding in guide 5'7 formed in a third arm 58, which is keyed to narrowing shaft 14. A connecting rod 59 connects block 56 with arm 60 of another bell crank 61, the other arm 62 of which carries a roller 63 which engages with cam 64 on the main cam shaft at the proper time. At other times roller 63 rides upon a round cam 65 also fixed upon the main cam shaft alongside cam 64. By this means pawl 48 will be'moved backward A shift rod 42 is attached at one to engage a new tooth of ratchet 47 when roller 63 passes into a depression in cam 64, and will be moved forward to rotate the ratchet and the pattern drum when roller 63 again climbs out of the depression onto the higher portions of cam 64. Ordinarily, cam 64 will be so designed that this operation will result in the rotation of pattern drum 10 the distance of one tooth of ratchet 47. At other times pawl 48 will remain inert.

This is insured as follows: As the mechanism is shown in Fig. 8, the arc through which the pawl swings during the dipping of the narrowing mechanism is greater than that through which the end 50 of rod 50 swings, since the radius of the former is the greater. As a result there would be a tendency for pawl 48 to move back towards the next tooth of the ratchet and possibly to engage that tooth, with the result that the pattern drum would be rotated upon the return stroke of the narrowing mechanism. However, since arm 58, which carries the cross-head and which, as already stated, is also keyed to the narrowing shaft 14, swings back when the narrowing mechanism clips, the angle between rod 59 and link 54 is reduced, with the result that arm 53 of bell crank 52 is swung up and arm 51 forward. This pushes rod 50 forward also carrying pawl 48 with it. There are, therefore, two opposed forces acting upon pawl 48 and if rod 59, arm 58, link 54 and bell crank 52 are properly proportioned with respect to rod 50 and the radius of rotation of pawl 48 upon shaft 1, the tendency towards displacement of the pawl, resulting from the dipping of the narrowing mechanism, may be exactly counteracted and no actual movement of the pawl will occur, except that caused by the action of cam 64 through the linkage described. Obviously the proportioning of these parts cannot be stated since the length of one will affect all of the others but they can be worked out readily by those skilled in the art through the application of ordinary engineering knowledge.

As already stated, the dipping of the narrowing mechanism for press preventing purposes and the operation of the press preventing points occur at substantially the same time. Therefore, it is convenient and practical to put both of these mechanisms into operation by means of the same timing gear. To this end a second shifting fork 66 is attached to shift rod 42 and engaged with roller 63. Roller 63 is mounted upon a stub shaft 67 on arm 62 of suificient length to permit it to be slid into engagement with either cam 64 or 65. Shifting fork 66 is so positioned upon shift rod 42 that roller 63 will be in engagement with round cam when roller 21 is in engagement with round cam 26, and so that, when roller 21 is shifted onto cam 20, roller 63 will be shifted onto cam 64.

In this way the dipping and pattern drum operating mechanism are shifted into and out of operation simultaneously and by the same timing devices, viz., the pattern chain mechanism already described. Incidentally. the faces of cams 34 and 65 are double width, so that when the cam shaft is shifted longitudinally for the narrowing operation the respective rollers will still remain upon these cams. The dipping of the narrowing mechanism for the narrowing operation, although it carries with it the pattern drum and its operating pawl and connecting rod 50, will not cause the pawl to operate because of the flexible operating mechanism already described.

I claim:

1. In a fiat knitting machine having knitting needles and needle pressing mechanism, means for automatically and selectively isolating any of the needles from the press action of the pressing mechanism, said isolating means including a bar provided with a multiplicity of press preventing points, each engageable with a particular needle and normally positioned above and to the rear of the needles, means for dipping said bar sufficiently to bring said points slightly below the tops of said needles, and means for springing each of said points forward into engagement with the corresponding needle at any desired time and for holding it in such engagement as long as desired.

2. In a flat knitting machine having knitting needles, needle pressing mechanism and narrowing mechanism, means for automatically and selectively isolating any of the needles from the pressing action of the pressing mechanism, said isolating means including a bar provided with a multiplicity of press preventing points, each engageable with a particular needle and normally positioned above and to the rear of the needle, means for dipping said bar suiiiciently to bring said points sightybelow the tops of said needles, means for bringing each of said points forward into engagement with the corresponding needle at any desired time and for holding it in such engagement as long as desired, said dipping means comprising the dipping mechanism of the narrowing mechanism with the exception of the narrowing cam, and a separate operating cam.

3. In a flat knitting machine having knitting needles and needle pressing mechanism, means for automatically and selectively isolating any of the needles from the press action of the pressing mechanism, said isolating means including a bar provided with a multiplicity of press preventing points, each engageable with a particular needle and normally positioned above and to the rear of the needles, means for dipping said bar sufiiciently to bring said points slightly below the tops of said needles, means for springing each of said points forward into engagement with the corresponding needle at any desired time and for holding it in such engagement as long as possible, said means for springing said points comprising a rotatable pattern drum having buttons thereon, a lever engaging said drum and each of said points, and means for rotating said drum.

4. In a flat knitting machine having knittingneedles and needle pressing mechanism, means for automatically and selectively isolating any of the needles from the press action of the pressing mechanism, said isolating means including a bar provided with a multiplicity of press preventing points; each engageable with a particular needle and normally positioned above and to the rear of the needles, means for dipping said bar sufiiciently to bring said points slightly below the tops of said needles, means for springing each of said points forward into engagement with the corresponding needle at any desired time and-for holding it in such engagement as long as possible, said means for springing said points comprising a rotatable pattern drum having buttons thereon, a lever engaging said drum and each of said points and means for rotating said drum, consisting of a driven cam, a ratchet on said pattern drum, a pawl for operating said ratchet and levers operably connecting said cam and said pawl.

KARL RICHARD LIEBERKNECHT. 

